Manufacturers such as Cordenons, Pall (Seitz), Bergerow (Beco), Carlson etc, produce various different
grades of filter sheet, each with a 'nominal' particle size retention (in microns) and a range of retention. Choosing which grade of filter sheet to use: 1. Sterile filtration: When bottling white wine:- Cordenons:- Seitz:- Beco:- Carlson:- 2. Fine filtration: for bottling Sparkling wine: use 0.5 micron. Cordenons:- Seitz:- Beco:- Carlson:- 3. Clarifying Filtration: after fining or centrifuging or coarse DE (kieselguhr): use 1.5 or 2.0 micron. Cordenons:- Seitz:- Beco:- Carlson:- 4. Coarse Filtration: for 'rough' filtration: immediately after fermentation, Cordenons:- Seitz:- Beco:- Carlson:-
Winegrowers Supplies
- Sheet Filtration - 'depth' filtration - choice of filter sheets
To confuse this even more Beco and Carlson have at least 3 different ranges of filter sheets, a wine range, a beer range and a general range.
Filter sheets of very high filtration efficiency will always be the safest solution but may suffer from early blocking, hence, the correct choice of filter sheet for the task is vital.
The grades can be categorised into four main types:-
These grades are suitable for cold filling or long term storage. The high germ retention rate is achieved through
the fine-pored structure of the sheets and an electro-kinetic potential with an absorptive effect. Due to their high retention capacity for colloids,
these sheet types are particularly suitable as pre-filters for subsequent membrane filtration.
for sweet wine or high pH (low acidity): use 0.2 micron.
for eliminating yeast and bacteria, or before membrane: use 0.35 micron.
for dry white wines: use 0.4-0.45 micron. Opinion is that 0.65 micron will remove yeast.
0.3 - 0.45 micron: CKP-V24 (3.4 mm thick, 1250 gsm, up to 1 bar)
0.2 micron: EKS
0.3 micron: EK1
0.4 - 0.45 micron: EK
0.1 micron: Steril-S100 (3.9 mm thick, 1375 gsm, 0.10-0.17 micron)
0.2 micron: Steril-S (Steril-S80) (3.9 mm thick, 1375 gsm, 0.19-0.25 micron)
0.3 micron: Steril-S60 (3.8 mm thick, 1375 gsm, 0.3-0.35 micron)
0.35 micron: Steril
0.4 - 0.45 micron: Steril-40 (3.8 mm thick, 1344 gsm, 0.4-0.46 micron)
0.2 - 0.4 micron: XE1200H (3.8mm thick, 1400 gsm)
0.4 - 0.5 micron: XE900H (3.8mm thick, 1375 gsm)
These grades reliably retain fine particles and can have a germ-reducing effect, making them particularly suitable for pre-filtration before bottling:-
for wine pre-filtration prior to sterile bottling with 0.2 micron sheets: use 0.7 micron.
0.5 - 0.65 micron: CKP-V20 (3.4 mm thick, 1250 gsm, up to 1.5 bar)
0.7 - 0.9 micron: CKP-V18 (3.4 mm thick, 1200 gsm, up to 2.0 bar)
0.5 micron: KS50
0.8 micron: KS80
0.5 micron: KDS (SD30) (3.8 mm thick, 1344 gsm, 0.5-0.6 micron)
0.6 micron: KDS15 (3.8 mm thick, 1344 gsm, 0.6-1.0 micron)
0.7 micron: KD
0.8 micron: KDS12 (3.8 mm thick, 1344 gsm, 0.8-1.3 micron)
0.4 - 0.6 micron: XE675H (3.75 mm thick, 1375 gsm)
0.5 - 0.8 micron: XE400H (3.75 mm thick, 1375 gsm)
0.5 - 1.5 micron: XE280H (3.75 mm thick, 1290 gsm)
These grades offer high retention capacity:-
for first filtration after fermentation, if settled out well: use 2.5 micron.
after fine kieselguhr filtration, or before sterile filtration: use 1.0 to 3.0 micron.
for final filtration of olive oil: use 3.0 to 3.5 micron.
for clarifying light red wine: use 3.0 to 6.0 micron.
1.0 - 1.5 micron: CKP-V16 (3.4 mm thick, 1150 gsm, up to 2.0 bar)
3.0 - 3.5 micron: CKP-V12 (3.4 mm thick, 1080 gsm)
5.0 - 6.0 micron: CKP-V8 (3.4 mm thick, 1020 gsm, up to 2.5 bar)
1.0 micron: K100
1.5 micron: K150
2.0 micron: K200
2.5 micron: K250
3.0 micron: K300
5.0 - 6.0 micron: K700
1.0 micron: KD10 (3.8 mm thick, 1313 gsm, 1.0-1.8 micron)
1.5 micron: BM (KD7) (3.8 mm thick, 1281 gsm, 1.5-2.3 micron)
2.0 micron: KD5 (3.8 mm thick, 1250 gsm, 2.0-2.6 micron)
2.5 micron: UK (KD3) (3.8 mm thick, 1188 gsm, 2.5-3.5 micron)
3.0 micron: K2 (3.8 mm thick, 1094 gsm, 3.0-4.4 micron)
3.0 - 4.0 micron: K1 (3.8 mm thick, 1050 gsm, 4.0-5.0 micron)
1.5 - 2.5 micron: XE200H (3.75 mm thick, 1265 gsm)
4.0 - 9.0 micron: XE90H (3.75 mm thick, 1190 gsm)
These grades offer very high retention capacity:-
or for dark red wine, or cider: use 7.0 micron or coarser.
9 - 10 micron: CKP-V4 (3.4 mm thick, 875 gsm, up to 3.0 bar)
15 - 20 micron: CKP-V0 (3.35 mm thick, 880 gsm, up to 4.0 bar)
7 - 8 micron: K800
9 - 10 micron: K900
5 - 12 micron: XE70H (3.75 mm thick, 1140 gsm)
6 - 15 micron: XE50H (3.75 mm thick, 1150 gsm)
8 - 20 micron: XE20H (3.75 mm thick, 1050 gsm)